Last night Gohan, summoning all of his canine wisdom, managed to get himself sprayed by a skunk for the SECOND time this summer. Needless to say, he spent the night confined to the patio. This morning, as Jeff was leaving for an 8 am on a Saturday (Ugh!) meeting, he noticed a little skunk laying on the side of the road just down from our house. He called me and suggested that I might call animal control. I dragged my self out of bed and found the little guy, unable to move his back legs. He was struggling and the sun was beating down on him. Temperatures have been hitting 105 - 110 with regularity here, so I decided I better get him in the shade quick. I came back with a towel and a box. He made no attempt to spray, bite or scratch me as I wrapped him up and tucked him into the box. It wasn't the first time I'd seen him. One night, weeks earlier, he was playing in our yucca. He looked like such a happy, cheerful little guy. Now he needed help.
For the next few hours I called dozens of numbers trying to find a wildlife rehab. Unfortunately, at 8 am on a Saturday, no one answers phones. Finally I loaded him in the car and took him to Cedar Hill State Park. They are part of the Texas Parks and Wildlife system after all. They turned me away at the gate, wrinkling noses when I said baby skunk. Apparently they weren't serious about the "and Wildlife" part. Back at home, the TX Wildlife Coalition was finally answering their phones. They gave me the number of a lady in Arlington. She said she wasn't accepting anymore animals and that if his hind legs weren't moving, I should just call animal control and have him put down. I called Jeff and told him he'd have to make the call, that I didn't have the heart to do it. He'd quickly crawled into the warm, fuzzy corner of my heart reserved for kittens and baby mountain goats. Jeff made the call. When I went back out to check on him, he was moving around more. He hadn't taken water from a dropper earlier when I offered it, but I decided to try again with a small dish. He lapped it up shakily, but eagerly. I went back inside and called TX Wildlife Coalition back and asked for the number of another rescue.
I loaded up the little skunk and drove him to Ft. Worth. The wildlife rescue lady was really sweet. She cuddled the skunk like a kitten and reassured me that she would do everything she could to help him.
Who knew a skunk could be so sweet and tug at your heart!
